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Christian Chronicles, May 2004 - Volume 7, Issue 101

| The Editor's Pen | Perspectives | Mid-East Update | Fruit of the Vine | From the Mundane to the Eternal |
| Peace that Passes Understanding | Attitudes & Ambitions | Sonnet 58 | The Mid-Way Christian |

The Editor's Pen

...but one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:13b-14)

Every minister of the Gospel goes through times in life when troubles seem to pile up and overwhelm him. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. More often than not, the persecution comes in the form of fiery darts from the wicked one. We all must erect a shield of faith in order to quench the fiery darts, but it is not always the case that the darts are being hurled at us. Frequently, the minister’s job becomes overwhelming because of all the darts thrown at those to whom he ministers, not being quenched by that shield, but borne to the point of requiring spiritual counsel, so that the minister does not know which dart to extinguish first, for the sheer volume of troubled souls.

It is one thing to scurry from hot spot to hot spot, willy-nilly, trying to help as quickly as possible and rush on to the next tortured soul, but it is something altogether different to manage those crises spiritually. Often, God allows us to be overwhelmed simply so that we will learn to pray fervently, and so that we will learn that, apart from Him, we can do nothing. When we perform the works that He has ordained beforehand, that we should walk in them, and we do so in communion with Him, we learn a certain detachment from earthly trials. It is called holiness, and has nothing to do with “being good,” but with being separate from all that we must deal with during our time of service here below.

When a Christian learns to deal with the issues of life from an unemotional place, he is well on his way toward learning to manage his life and work from the heavenly places in Christ, where nothing overwhelms, where no fiery darts can singe or burn his devotion and zeal. It is not until we understand the absolute necessity of living our temporal lives from an eternal perspective that we at last begin to understand how to cope with the vicissitudes of temporal life in a lost world.

Mid-East Update

When we write of the Middle East, we write primarily of the very heart and soul of the Middle East, Israel. There is a war in Iraq, terrorism in Syria and Iran, support for terrorism in other nations of that region, corruption everywhere, but the heart of God and the seat of the millennial kingdom will be in Israel—in Jerusalem, to be specific.

So many Christians confuse the prophets so that they do not separate the millennial kingdom from the eternal state. They picture Jesus reigning over the New Jerusalem, which He assuredly shall, but they do not understand that it is that same old city of Jerusalem that the Arabs and the Jews are fighting over today that is where Jesus’ throne shall be erected and occupied during the Kingdom Age. Jesus is not going to be reigning over the New Earth in the millennial kingdom, but over that bomb-wracked, divided city that we know today. It will not, of course, in that Day be torn or divided, but will be unified in complete support of its King.

God never ordained a democracy for Israel. Oh no. Let us be clear about that. His idea was to be King Himself, in a theocracy. When the Jews would no longer have their pagan, Gentile neighbors alone enjoy the pomp and pageantry of a human king, God allowed them to have a human king, but His will has always been that Israel be a monarchy, with Jesus Himself on the throne. When He returns, seven years after the rapture of the Church, He will finally ascend that throne, where He will reign with absolute power for one thousand years, after which the Jerusalem that now is will be destroyed, along with the heavens and the earth. Then new heavens and a new Earth will be created, and the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven to either sit upon or be suspended above (there are convincing arguments for both views of this) the New Earth. From the New Jerusalem, then, Jesus will reign over the entire creation for all eternity. Israel will drop her notions of democracy, and again become a theocracy, as they were when God brought them out of bondage in Egypt and served as their King until the Jews decided they wanted a human king.

But today, Israel is a democracy. It seems to be working. Except for the fact that they cannot seem to find a coherent or consistent foreign policy, they are not organized according to the Word of God, there is terror in the streets and confusion in the Knesset.

Ariel Sharon may wind up having to call for elections (which at this point he might lose), is facing criminal investigation for abuses of power, cannot seem to decide whether to be a hardliner or a dove, and cannot truly find any roadmap that will lead the state out of the quagmire of chaos and discord in which it is gripped. Sharon’s unilateral withdrawal plan was voted down, leaving him without a plan. He says that he will implement it anyway, but cannot truly do that without the approval of his cabinet. He may be forced to bring in more Labor Party members to his cabinet in order to shove that plan through, but if he does, there is a real danger of splitting the Likud Party. Essentially, there are two main factions in Israel, the Likud and Labor. Neither side can come up with a solution to their “international” problems that is acceptable to the other.

Nor will they. It will take the King of kings to sort through the Middle East muddle. In the interim, there will not be any real peace, but a false peace that will be broken during the tribulation period, in the three and a half years immediately preceding the return of Jesus to the Earth with His saints. The Prince of Peace will have the only plan that can possibly work, and He will be bringing it with Him, along with us, in the form of a rod of iron with which He will rule.

The sad irony is the fact that, if Israel would look to Him today, accept Jesus as their Messiah, much trouble could be avoided. But we know that they will not, and that the time of Jacob’s trouble is shortly to begin. Fortunately, Church Age saints will avoid it altogether.

Fruit of the Vine

Perspectives

From the Mundane to the Eternal

Our truly objective lives are orchestrated by God, far above and beyond our abilities to comprehend, in interaction with everyone to whom He would have us come in contact, in every situation and circumstance in which we find ourselves. Those truly are the objective circumstances of every Christian's life. We no more control our temporal destinies than we understand our eternal realities. We have One whom we trust to understand and to lead us through the complex and inter-connected relationships and aspects of our lives on Earth. We have only to acknowledge our Father in the details of our lives to receive the guarantee of His direction of our steps (Pro 3:5-6). This is our privilege and our responsibility daily.

When we view our lives from a temporal perspective, we immediately lose sight of the bigger picture and begin to focus on temporal things - life, family, finances, living conditions, desires, emotions, ad nauseum. We make judgments about our lives based upon the state of those things, when, from an eternal perspective, we ought to understand that our subjective circumstances (what we see, and the judgments we make concerning the events in our lives) have no bearing whatsoever upon our real and underlying purposes for being on earth in the first place. Where we are does not matter. Neither wealth nor poverty matter. Health or illness do not matter. A mud hut or a castle; it makes no difference. What matters is whether we live by faith, trusting that we cannot make a wrong decision if we acknowledge God in whatever circumstance we are. Paul certainly realized this, for he said, "I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!" (Phil 4:12-13).

And in fact, we can do nothing properly without Christ. For in Him resides the full wisdom of God! And in us, the folly of sin. We make our decisions and judgments subjectively, according to emotion-based reason. God’s view of our lives is utterly objective. He orders the objective circumstances of our lives in accordance with His knowledge, both of what we need today and how He shall use that in the future in our ministries to accomplish His purposes in us, allowing us to fulfill our ministries. This, by the way, is the reason Christians ought not judge one another by their deeds. We cannot know the purposes God is working out in the lives of others. Indeed, we cannot know the purposes God is working out in our own lives, and how then can we judge someone else? Ours is not to judge, but to minister the word of reconciliation. We are responsible to comfort, exhort, evangelize and teach, all in the fullness of intercessory prayer and dependence upon God.

We are not to be ignorant of the details and necessities of our temporal lives, but we are to manage them diligently, albeit from a detached perspective, a heavenly perspective. We must be good stewards of our time on Earth, and that involves managing wisely the resources He gives us. Whether we are rich or poor, our responsibilities are the same. God gives us resources, and we think that they are for our pleasure. We use them for ourselves far more than any of us should, and for God far less than any of us should, though those who are blessed with the gift of giving always prove to be exorbitantly generous over the course of their lives. For, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6b). We must ask ourselves, “How did Paul use his resources? How did Jesus use His meager resources? And how did He use those glorious, eternal resources that are the attributes of God alone? Jesus was single-minded, but we are double-minded for the most part. What is our purpose and to what degree are we attending to it?” The saints have always been called upon to be selfless and not selfish. It is one of the fundamentals of our faith that is rarely preached in this nation because we are a self-indulgent people. Who was selfless? The widow whose farthing was her fortune. The rich, young ruler was selfish. How selfless was the Apostle Paul? Selflessness is not denying self, but it is a positive thing. Selflessness is service to others with a willing spirit, no matter the cost in time or convenience. It is a lofty goal for anyone, and heavily freighted with sacrifice, suffering and slander. Take heart, for the reward is more than commensurate with the sacrifices of selflessness.

Selflessness does not only pertain to money. There are many ways to be selfless. The Christian who is quick to minister to others. The fellow who mows the church lawn. Those who serve at soup kitchens. Those who place at risk the approbation of their friends in order to present the Gospel to them. These serve selflessly as well. Nevertheless, far too many Christians—real, born-again believers— think of self and selfish interests before they think of selflessness in service to God. To some, the notion of truly selfless service has never occurred. Paul’s letter to the Philippians describes the Christian experience in a temporal world.

Solomon said that God put eternity in our hearts (Eccl 3:11 — In the KJV, the word, olam, is translated world, but eternity is the better translation), and we must realize that we cannot possibly understand God's purposes, and should never make judgments about any worldly estimate of our circumstances, not knowing what God is working in us of those things that He ordained for us before the ages, that we should walk in them. We are caught up in His work, and our temporal circumstances do not matter. He puts all of His children where He needs them to be, whether in jail or the ivory tower. He orders our circumstance in accordance with His own needs and purposes, but always for our good. Our God is wiser than we are.

A refrigerator box on a steam grate is far more valuable than a mansion on a high hill when it comes to heavenly treasure. To whom much has been given, of him shall much also be required. There is a very fruitful minister of the Gospel who lives on an average of about $60 per week (In the U.S., that is a pauper’s income). He often has no electricity, no water in the kitchen, ministering to the very poor and uneducated almost exclusively; and yet, he is rich in faith and fruit. He understands the eternal value of that heavenly treasure, and is rejoicing to serve just as he is serving, knowing what awaits him on that Day. We all pay a heavy price for our ministries, and the more fruit with which we are blessed, generally, the higher the price becomes. God has ministers like this all over the world. These are they who will wear crowns in the Kingdom Age, reigning with Christ. Many are the saints of the Church Age who see little in the way of earthly comforts; an eternal estate in view.

On subjective circumstances: all that we see around us, in every area of our lives, and the relative positive or negative values we place upon everything. On objective circumstances: the management of God of His own providence toward us, and the eternal issues that dominate our temporal arrangements, infinitely beyond our abilities to perceive. Objective circumstances are the circumstances of our lives that exist from moment to moment. Subjective circumstances are the way we look at those objective circumstances. We see some things in our lives as good, and some as bad, and some, somewhere in between.

A person who is dissatisfied or disgruntled or worried about temporal matters is a man who does not truly trust God. Much of godly trust is developed over decades, but life is long (it is eternal). God often must drag us kicking and screaming through the forges of life in which He molds and shapes us to conform to the image of His Son. It is easy to mold clay, but gold and silver must be heated to great temperatures and undergo the menace of the hammer. In the end, the hammer is seen as providential and beneficent, for the finished product is beautiful, but the blows hurt. Unless, of course, one is able to rise above the mundane to the eternal. Then the blows can be embraced and shared with rejoicing. What matters is not our state, but our state of mind. The Holy Spirit develops that ability in every Christian, but it is a process, not an event. As our lives progress, we come to understand that Romans 8:28 is true: All things do indeed work together for our good, according to God’s purposes, and even when the hammer rings loudly on our thick heads, we know that we are blessed. Paul rejoiced in every trial, and we also have that same Spirit, and could do so as well. Even now, God is conforming us to the image of His Son.

Commentaries do not do justice to that little letter that Paul wrote to Philippi, and neither shall this article, for who can do justice to the Word of God? The theme of the Philippian epistle is “The Christian Experience,” but rarely does a commentary touch upon the eternal realities and temporal solutions that it embodies. Rarer is the one that touches at all deeply upon the necessity of an eternal perspective on our temporal lives. Yet, that makes all the difference. That was Paul's driving motive in all of his epistles: He explained the Gospels and presented a theology that draws us inexorably and inevitably into an eternal realm in which we truly may rejoice in all things. Life is good, and just gets better. God is good, and the better we know Him, the better He gets. Jesus embraced His cross, and we must each embrace joyfully every aspect of our own lives if we wish to wear a crown in the Kingdom Age. He died to save us, and we live to serve Him. Let us consider a brief word from Romans, and then look at some of Paul's letter to the Philippians.

Paul wrote to the Romans, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption…” (8:15). We consider adoption to be the act of taking a child who is not our own, and making the legal arrangements to assume full responsibility for that child, giving it our name. The theological meaning is not exactly the same. There is not a word in the English language that exactly translates “uihothesia.” The difference is that, theologically, adoption means taking a child who is already your own and placing that child in the position of an adult, with all the attendant responsibilities. When a person is saved, he is adopted, and from that day forward, he bears all of the responsibilities of a mature child of God in a sin-darkened world. It is a heavy responsibility indeed, and must be borne in the strength of the Lord and the confidence of faith in answered prayer. Even babes in Christ are responsible to share the Gospel and minister the love of God to lost and saved alike. The vast majority of churches focus their efforts on morality and sin, when they ought instead to focus their energies on service to God. For only by serving God do we truly serve ourselves, and in service to God we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Nevertheless, Christians—all Christians—are responsible to serve God in a mature way all our lives.

Paul said, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Phil 2:5). He then goes on to say that Jesus emptied Himself of all His preincarnate glory, became humble and obeyed to the point of death. Let this mind be in you. As stated above, this epistle is about the Christian experience. It tells us what a Christian ought to expect and to have in life, what attitudes, what labors, the methods of those labors. Not the largest book in the Bible, it is among the very most important for one, already saved, who wishes to be fruitful and to lay up treasure in heaven. Here, Paul is telling these poor people of that city of outcasts, Philippi, that they should empty themselves of earthly pride and seek diligently to serve. We seek to serve by asking in prayer to be useful to God. When we are fervent in our desire to serve, God will give us works to do and the devil will certainly persecute us (2 Tim 3:12). Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. “But we have the mind of Christ…” (1 Cor 2:16b).

The Christian experience involves a perspective on life like that Paul described of himself in 3:4b-14. It is so very contrary to the wisdom of this world, and yet, it is entirely possible to adopt this perspective and attitude today. In verses 4b-11, Paul lists many of his accomplishments and attributes, and describes a social stature of which any earthly man would be proud. He then says, “But whatever things were gain to me, these I have counted as loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (3:7-9).

His dramatically reduced social standing, his inability to set up shop and market his wares on a full-time basis, the beatings, stonings, imprisonment — none of this was important to Paul. He considered everything earthly that he had as something to be casually thrown away for the sake of serving God in Christ. He didn’t try to “be good.” No, the righteousness that he strove for was the righteousness that God imputes to every saved person. Paul knew that he had nothing at all of which to boast in the flesh. All that he owned, and even he himself, were completely dispensable and disposable for the sake of the glory that awaited him on the other side of his service. That is the selfless heart of a bondservant, and it should be ours.

Paul goes on a few verses later to say, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (3:12). The Christian experience is not one of strolling through life awaiting the rapture. It is a matter of pressing business. “I press on,” he said. Paul wants to grasp onto the things that Jesus has called him to perform. He wants to labor in the Lord, for the Lord.

He goes on to say, “...but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (13b-14). Volumes could be written about that brief passage. Paul here outlines the method of his ministry. If a Christian wants to know what his life should be, here it is: “One thing I do!” he said. The driving principle in all of Paul’s life. “I forget that which is behind and reach to that which is ahead.” What he did last week, good or evil, is in the past. Thinking on it will not profit Paul. What happened ten minutes ago is also past. One thing I do...reaching forward. Ever forward. Always forward. Oh, Paul’s was no trudging , aching, half-hearted attempt to go forward. He was eager, always pressing the envelope, seeking opportunities for service. He was in communion with his heavenly Father, and he both rejoiced in his suffering and pressed his full weight against his eternal future. He says, “Imitate me!” (1 Cor 4:16; 11:1). He says, “...join in following my example!” (Phil 3:17).

Paul was pressing toward a goal. He had his feet solidly planted on a Rock, and his shoulder was pressed heavily into his labors. Why? Because he had a goal. His goal was to lay up treasure in heaven through faithful service. “I press toward the goal for the prize…” Paul’s mind was always on his heavenly treasure. His treasure was Christ. Our Husband is certainly our greatest Treasure, and our spirits groan to see His face. But here, Paul was talking about a different treasure. He was talking about the prize that he would receive at the upward call of God in Jesus. Paul was here saying that when he gets to heaven, he wants to have laid up as much treasure as possible, so that his prize would be heavy. The rewards for our labors are distributed at the judgment seat of Christ, immediately following the rapture of the Church. It was always on his mind. His heart’s desire was to bear much fruit. In chapter two, verse 16, Paul exhorted the Philippian Christians because he was concerned lest he might have labored in vain. He wanted the full measure of reward for their steadfastness and service in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. In the fourth chapter, verse 17, he had been thanking them for a gift of money that they had sent to relieve the sufferings he was enduring in prison, and he concluded his thanks by saying, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.” When Paul’s epistles are read with an eye toward his attitude concerning the rewards of his labors, the reader is astonished to find that he had so much to say on the subject. But it is clear from this epistle that Paul’s single-minded approach to pressing on toward that goal became the driving force in his temporal life. He operated on the Earth, but he managed his operations from the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. “One thing I do…”

Paul’s objective circumstances were as dire as anyone’s who ever lived. God could have given that dedicated servant a fine home, money, fast camels and the lap of luxury. Instead, He gave him the worst of circumstances, culminating in beheading. Always in danger, always persecuted, no permanent home (on Earth). The beatings and physical abuse he suffered are beyond our abilities to grasp today. The stark poverty he must have endured when those to whom he ministered failed to support his ministerial needs. One might look at his life and see the basest of men, but if one could glimpse beyond the curtain of mortality and see what Paul will enjoy at the judgment seat, he would see the richest man who ever lived. Paul had no earthly hope, nor wanted any. He wanted to be found “in Him.” Despite his pitiful circumstance, he could say, “...for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (4:11-13). While his objective circumstances were in God’s hands, Paul’s subjective evaluation of those circumstances was simply to be content and revel in the strength of the great God Himself that was within his battered frame. His subjective experience was one of joy and victory and jubilation and prayer and service, and he was content both to flourish and to suffer.

Such joy is available to every Christian, but it involves not assuming the attitude of the rich young ruler, who could not count it all loss for Christ. We want to find joy in selfishness, but it is an elusive prey. Only in selfless love for God and neighbor is real joy to be found. Jesus emptied Himself, and Paul emptied himself, and there seems to be some sense in which the degree to which we are willing to empty ourselves will determine the degree of both our fruitfulness and our contentment. After Paul wrote about pressing forward to the goal for his own prize, he said, “Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you” (3:15).

The oil that lubricates ministry is love. Paul’s deep affection (the affection of Christ—Phil 1:8) for the saints is evident throughout this epistle. In every prayer he sought fellowship with them (1:3-5). He was willing to continue on in the flesh because they needed him to do so (1:24). He was sending Timothy to visit them so that he would himself be encouraged in his imprisonment by knowing their state (2:19). Epaphroditus was sick nearly unto death, but he was distressed because his friends had heard that he was sick, and he did not want them to be worried about him (2:26). And Paul would be made less sorrowful in the knowledge that they would rejoice to see Epaphroditus (2:28). Paul called the Christians at Philippi, “my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown” (4:1). In every one of his epistles, he expresses a deep and abiding love for God’s children. His was a mature faith, one that indeed did rise above the mundane to the eternal. As we go through our temporal lives, God steadily draws us toward that same maturity.

As God’s adopted children, we have been “promoted” to adulthood, and we are responsible to establish just such a relationship with our Father. He expects us to serve Him soberly, with mature hearts and minds, eagerly seeking to lay up treasure in heaven, that we also might have something to lay at His feet. Let us not be ashamed at His coming for His bride, but let us all face these last days with a renewed zeal for the gospel.

Peace That Passes Understanding

The Epistle of Paul to the Philippians was written while Paul was in prison in Rome. We know that Paul went to Philippi on his second missionary journey. We find some outstanding conversion experiences recorded in the 16^th chapter of Acts (Lydia, and the more commonly known Philippian jailer, and their families were saved). We remember Acts chapter 16, verse 30 where the question, “What must I do to be saved?” was asked by the Philippian jailer and answered point blank in verse 31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved,” thus giving the only way one can become a member of the Church of The Lord Jesus Christ. Only after one accepts Paul’s teaching to the jailer about the Lord Jesus can one come to know the blessing of the epistle to the Philippians.

C. I. Scofield said in his introduction to the epistle: “The key verse is, ‘For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain’ (1:21). Paul was Nero’s prisoner, yet the Epistle fairly shouts with triumph, the words ‘joy’ and ‘rejoice’ appearing frequently (1:4, 18,25; 2:2, 29; 3:1; 4:1,4,10). Right Christian experience is the outworking, whatever our circumstances may be, of the life, nature, and mind of Christ living in us (1:6, 11; 2:5, 13).”

The Epistle has only four chapters containing only 104 verses, yet the blessing in these chapters and verses cannot be numbered. We find the word “joy” six times, and “rejoice” nine times. Both words are very similar in meaning. They mean, loosely, “to boast”, “to glory”, “to exult” in our Lord.

Paul uses these words to let the people at Philippi know what his Lord did for him and what their work was doing for him, bringing joy and rejoicing. Paul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, was saying to them, and is saying to us, that knowing the Lord Jesus as Savior brings joy and rejoicing. Only after we reach that place of spiritual birth are we able to experience the peace in any and all circumstances that Paul writes about in Chapter four verse seven: “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

To experience “the peace that passes all understanding” is simply to have “the wholeness of God” in you. In the Greek, there is, according to W. E. Vine, a close connection between the words “peace” and “salvation”. It is simply a “harmonious relationship with God”. This relationship can only be realized when we understand God’s forgiveness of sin. Statistics show that many - more than half - the people confined in mental institutions could come out and live productive lives if they could understand God’s forgiveness. Nothing is more satisfying than this peace that can only come from God. Eliphas said in his final speech to Job: Acquaint thyself now with God and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee (Job 22:21 KJV). Nothing but good, both in the present and in the future, is for those who are at peace with God.

Perfect peace is divine in its origin, seeing the three persons of The Trinity are united in its acquisition and application. God the Father is the God of Peace. “Now may the God of Peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:23 NKJV). And the God of Peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly (Romans 16:20a). God the Son is the Prince of Peace. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). “For He Himself is our Peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation” (Eph 2:14). God the Spirit provides the Fruit of Peace. “But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control” (Gal 5:22-23a).

It is true the Father ordered peace; the Son purchased peace; the Spirit applies peace; peace comes from above. This peace can only be realized from within. It is this inward peace that Jesus was talking about in John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I gave to you; not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your heart (whole being) be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Peace with God. Paul seems to say that these are some of the things one does when he has this peace: 1. We do not let ourselves be shaken by fears, uncertainty, and worries. Faith trusts the God of Peace all the time. If we allow these (fear, doubt and worry) to enter in, they will destroy our peace. 2. Prayer is the beginning of peace. There is a strong link between prayer and peace. 3. We are thankful for everything. Thankfulness brings tranquility and praise, which brings peace to the inner man.

Peace from God is peace around us. The salutations of Paul’s epistles always direct hearts toward this peace, like grace and mercy draw our hearts to God. (Rom 1:7; 1 Cor 1:3; Gal 1:2; Eph 1:2). In all these references we see, with variation, that peace comes from God. Peace from God includes all the blessings of God that we need for time and eternity.

Only when one gives over every aspect of his life, his talents, his resources, to be used of our Lord can one know this peace that surpasses all understanding. When our eyes and hearts are on earthly things rather than things above, we know no peace at all, but frustration and fear of loss. Every earthly treasure ends at a hole in the ground (the grave), and offers neither hope nor joy nor peace to those who are occupied with it.

Our prayer or ourselves and others is that: “...the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Let us focus our hearts heavenward and keep that peace!

Attitudes & Ambitions

The devil has many ways to divert us from our labors, and every one of them has to do with earthly riches, lusts, desires, goals or trials. All he seeks is a way to make us fearful, doubtful, sensual, greedy, proud or hateful, any one of which will suffice to divert even the strongest Christian from the things of the Spirit. He uses habits, culture, money, sex, status and all of the technological wizardry of the new millennium, none of which is inherently evil in and of itself, but which Satan and his legions present to us in perverse ways to either stop or prevent us from performing our reasonable service to God (see Rom 12:1-2).

The Apostle Paul provides the solution to the problem: “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Phil 4:8-9).

There is nothing either earthly or temporal that does not bring with it a measure of discontent and despair, though its nuances may be subtle. It is said of the devil that he is the most subtle creature that God ever made (Gen 3:1– KJV). The desire for any temporal thing is immediately turned to some new thing once one acquires whatever it was that he desired. There is no earthly satisfaction that is not tainted by the shadow, in the back of the mind, of the grave. The grave is that ever-gaping maw of the earth that swallows all the times of a person’s life and delivers the person into eternity naked and alone. That is either a very hopeful thing or a thing of, well, grave despair. Only one generation among men, and only the tiniest portion of that generation, will escape the weight of death that drags us into the grave. That, of course, is the generation of Christians alive at the rapture of the Church. The point is, the hopelessness of mortality brings an element of despair to everything earthly or temporal. It lurks in the corners of the soul, a dark presence, mostly unnoticed, but always tugging at the fringes of our lives. When our hearts are set on temporal things, we have no genuine peace at the core of our being. None.

Paul knew how to lift himself out of the depths of temporality, all the way into the peace and joy of eternity. He did it by turning his mind toward heaven, toward the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. As long as his focus was fixed on earthly things, he could not be happy, so that he exhorted those Philippian Christians to turn their eyes onto the fount of blessing, that which is inherently and only true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy. There he could find the contentment that he wrote of two verses later (v. 11). All good things come from above.

Paul knew that there is power in a positive attitude. Many people, lost and saved understand that. But the superficial mask of contentment that the world wears does not sink as deeply into the very being as that which is available to the Christian. If we would be ambitious, let us be ambitious to fulfill our ministries. Let us be ambitious to serve our Lord. Let us, like Paul, meditate on those things that bring us closer to God in our daily lives. There is never any reason for any Christian to be negative (Rom 8:28). For the world, a false positivism springs from temporal achievements, acquisitions, or successes (some would say that a positive attitude results in those things), but for Paul and for us, a heartfelt and genuine positive attitude comes from the knowledge that nothing in our earthly or temporal circumstances matters at all. When we move our desires from the temporal to the eternal, and seek an eternal city, the cares of this world dissipate and we become content. As earthly creatures, our natural desire is to acquire and to keep. As heavenly creatures, our desire is to serve God faithfully and fruitfully. Let us walk in that new man, holy, separate from things temporal and bound to the good.

Sonnet 58

Lightning rips a scar 'cross the summer sky;
Bass thunder rolls its name across the land;
Rippling tin-roof rain sings its lullaby
In notes that ev'n adults can understand.
The rhythm of the morning is so slow:
No urgency at all to countermand
The sounds of nature's soft adagio,
Nor hint of chast'ning, nor of reprimand!
It is a blessed morning; let it rain;
Let Tri-unity flash His bright firebrand;
Let Earth’s saltless tears wash away the stain
Of every sin that lusts and lies command!
Thou art a balm unto a troubled saint;
Now wash me, God, remove this sinful taint!

The Mid-Way Christian

No, we’re not talking carnivals or fairs. We’re talking volume. Worldly volume.

I recently read a church sign that said, “To hear the voice of God, turn down the volume of the world.”

“But I do that,” one might say. “I turn the volume of the world down.”

But do we really? When God wants to speak with us, do we turn down the volume of the world, or do we expect God to shout over the clamor and tumult of our world?

When God has something to say to us, it is not usually as obvious as a telephone ringing. As Christians, most of us recognize when God is speaking to us. How obedient are we to that gentle ringing in our souls? Do we turn the volume of the world all the way down, or just mid-way? “My favorite TV show is on. I’ll just turn it down mid-way. Surely I can still hear from God with the racket of the world at mid-volume.”

Frail creatures that we are, this is how it is in our lives most of the time, isn’t it? Does our service to God run according to the television schedule each day? Or perhaps according to other things: music, activities, dates, or just the details of our temporal lives? When God speaks, do we answer, “Yes, Father. I hear You.” Or do we say, “Just a minute, God; only a few minutes left.” Or, “I’ll get back to You at halftime.”

There are many excuses for putting God on “Pause,” and those excuses differ from Christian to Christian, but we can each probably recognize the Christian in this article as largely something of ourselves. If, as Paul wrote to Colosse, we should set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth, we would become eager to hear the voice of God, and the things of the world would hold little appeal in our hearts. Let us all draw near to God in the full assurance of faith, not as Mid-Way Christians, but as ambassadors of heaven to whom has been committed the word of reconciliation.

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